A New Beginning
by RogueSnyper
Summary: What would have happened had Ash been smarter, older, and received a pokemon instead of Pikachu? Here is my take. Follow him as he travels to meet the world head on with a smart and new beginning. I'm rating this T for safety because I don't know how this story will evolve. Reviewing helps me write.


AN: This is my take on what would have happened had Ash woken up late. This will be at least slightly AU because I haven't seen the movies or tv shows in a while. In addition to that, I am changing different aspects about him because I didn't like them. The starting age is 15 as I think that 10 is a little young. Also, I am still writing Havoc Dragons, but have hit a small snag. I have temporarily lost interest in the story, but that should come back soon. Enjoy whatever else I decided to throw at you.

Disclaimer: Me no own Pokemon

*BEEEEEEEEEEEP* *CRASH*

Ash Ketchum leapt out of bed and sent his Voltorb alarm clock flying to smash into his wall, upon which it broke on impact. He quickly grabbed his watch and checked the time. "10:45! I'M LATE" he screamed. He shot across his room to the door as he tossed his pajamas and yanked on a pair of dark-blue jeans and a black sleeveless shirt. He zoomed down the stairs and sped through the hall. He saw his mom, Delia Ketchum, waiting at the door with a piece of toast and a few pieces of bacon.

"Ash, I know you're late, but at least eat this before you rush off."

Ash took the plate and quickly scarfed down the bacon and bread. Delia picked Ash's hat off the hat-rack by the door and traded that for the plate in his hands. Ash donned the hat and quickly pulled on his black combat boots and laced them up before sliding his pant legs down around them. He straitened, hugged his mom, and took off out the door for Professor Samuel Oak's Pokemon lab. Upon arriving, not winded in the slightest, he noticed Professor Oak's grandson, Gary, walk out of the lab.

"So, you finally decided to get up, eh? I thought that you would sleep till noon," Gary sneered. "I already got my first pokemon, and he's the best one of the three starters. Its too bad that he's the last one there as well."

"The last one?" Ash queried. At Gary's nod, he shrugged. "Might as well go in and speak with the Professor anyways." He pushed his way passed Gary and entered the lab. "Professor Oak, are you here?"

A crash was heard and a door opened. An older man stumbled out and shut the door. His face brightened upon seeing Ash. "Ah, Ash. Decided to show up did you?" He chuckled. "Better late than never, I guess. Sadly, I don't have any of the usual starter pokemon."

"Professor, you said you don't have a usual starter. Does that mean that you have a different one?"

"Very astute of you, Ash. Indeed, I do have a different pokemon for you, but I must warn you that he hasn't taken very well to many humans."

"I understand. May I see him?"

"Of coarse. Follow me." Oak led Ash through the door that he came out of and Ash saw several expensive and complicated machines, one of which held three pokeballs. Oak pointed to that machine, "That is the machine that holds the usual starter pokemon." He continued on and stood at the control panel to a different machine. "This machine holds the pokemon that I am currently studying and those that I think will make great companions for new trainers that either don't want or don't receive the usual starters." He typed on the keyboard and a pokeball appeared at the top of the machine. Oak picked it up and handed it to Ash. "With this pokeball is the pokemon I was tell you about earlier. Open it when you want."

Ash took the pokeball and opened it. A red laser shot out and began to take shape. It quickly dissipated, leaving behind a black, 3'11'' tall canine like pokemon with a silver blade coming out the side of its head, a silver blade like tail, four silver claws one each foot (this includes the dew claw), a silver face, and crimson red eyes. "What pokemon is he?"

"He is an Absol, a pokemon not indigenous to the Kanto region. His coloring is different than both the normal and shiny Absols. We, that is, the other professors and I, don't know what this signifies. He is the only pokemon left that I can give to a trainer. Luckily, he has decided that you can be his trainer. However, before you take him into battle, you should prove yourself to him so that he will listen and not ignore you as he has others."

Ash nodded and looked at the disaster pokemon. "Since you're coming with me, do you want a name?" Absol tilted his head sideways. "Imean, I don't want to just yell out Absol in the middle of a battle." Absol's face changed from confusion to one that basically said, 'ah' and nodded. Ash thought for a moment and idly began to scratch behind Absol's ears, unkowingly getting the Absol to like him even more. "What do you think of Shadow?"

Absol thought a moment and barked an affirmative. "Sol."

Ash turned to back to the professor, who was watching with amusement. "Professor, is there anyway for you to change the name that is shown in my pokedex?"

Oak frowned slightly. "Yes, but you would need way for law enforcement and other emergency services to know who you actually are." Ash nodded. "If you want, I can change the name that is shown to other trainers and spectators for your battles, but put your real name on the one that the emergency services check when they check your identity."

"That will work. Can you put Ghost in for me?"

Oak nodded and fiddled with a different machine. "Done. Anything else you want to know?"

"Can you upgrade it from the Kanto Dex to the National Dex?"

"Done."

"What about pokemon limit?"

"I can do that if you score high enough on a test."

"What does the test entail?"

"Everything that you learned during the time you studied under me."

"Then I will take the test."

"No need."

"What? Why?"

"You already took it."

"When?"

"It is the final test that I have everyone take when they study under me. You passed with one of the highest scores. If I remember right, it was about 84. The highest was an 86. Also, I'm done upgrading your pokedex. Here you go." Oak handed Ash a black Nintendo DS like object with a strap attached, as well as five pokeballs. "Your pokemon hold limit has been increased to twelve. So you can now hold two teams."

Ash strapped the pokedex to his right arm. "Thanks professor." Ash began walking to the exit. "I'll make sure to call you when I reach Viridian City."

"Ash." Ash paused at the door and looked at the professor. "Be careful out there. The world is a big and dangerous place. If you mess around to much, you could get hurt."

"I will, Professor." Ash left Oak to his research and exited the lab. He made his way home to finish gathering his things, Shadow at his heels. He opened the door and placed his hat on the hatrack.

His mom entered the hallway from the kitchen. "Ash, back already?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. Professor Oak was out of the usual pokemon, but he had an Absol that he was trying to find a trainer for. I would like you to meet Shadow, my Absol and starter." Ash stepped to the side and his mother bent down to pet Shadow, who allowed only because Delia was Ash's mother. "I'm going to finish packing and eat lunch. After that, we are going to head out."

Delia nodded. "Ash, before you leave, the sleeveless trench coat I ordered for you got here. It's laying on your bed. I want you to wear it at all times because it is made from the hide of a black Salamence. Don't worry about the Salamence; it's still alive. The hide is actually just a bunch of scales that the Salamence shed."

Ash nodded and continued to his room. After pulling on the trench coat, he grabbed his travel backpack and added some last minute items. After triple checking that he had everything, including many different first aid equipment, he slid the bag onto one shoulder and left his room. He entered the living room and found Shadow laying on the rug in the middle of the room. Ash set his bag down on the couch. "Shadow, want some lunch before we head out?"

Shadow stood up. "Sol."

Ash made his way to the kitchen and found Delia adding some cut meat into some pokefood for Shadow with two sandwiches on a plate nearby. When she noticed Ash, she handed him the plate and carried the bowl of pokefood to the table, where she then set it down by Ash's spot.

Twenty minutes later, Ash shouldered his backpack, adjusted its straps, donned his hat, and walked out the door with a wave while Shadow followed close behind. They left the small town of Pallet and trekked down the dirt path. They saw several different pokemon. Suddenly, a bird cawed. Ash and any resident of Pallet could recognize that type of caw. It was the caw of a Spearow on the war path. "Shadow, we need to run." Shadow and Ash took off down the path until they came to a small waterfall. Without a second's hesitation, Ash jumped off the cliff and into the stream below. Shadow hesitated a second before following, trusting his trainer. Ash quickly latched onto Shadow and they both swam to the shore. Ash knelt to catch his breath while shadow merely panted. After a moment, Ash looked and saw an orange-haired girl watching them. She had a fishing pole in her hand. She then made her way over and looked at both Ash and Shadow.

"Oh, you poor thing."

"I'm not a poor thing and neither is Shadow," Ash told the girl, somewhat coldly.

"Well, what are you doing here?" the girl asked just as coldly.

"We decided that we would take a nice swim to cool off. In my hurry, I forgot to take off my clothes and bag," Ash replied sarcastically.

Either the girl didn't notice or ignored the sarcasm. "Well that wasn't very smart now was it?"

Ash snorted. "In actuality, we were running from Pallet Town's flock of killer Spearows." His eyes widened slightly. "Speaking of which, we need to keep running. If you're smart, you'd run as well." Ash and Shadow quickly took off. They heard a Spearow caw and a scream. The stopped momentarily and looked back before continuing to run. In addition to the Spearow flock, they were now running from an orange-haired girl on a bike that was running from the same flock. As he was running, Ash activated his pokedex and pointed it at Shadow. During lunch, Ash had connected his blue-tooth earphone to it.

" _Absol, the disaster pokemon._ _Absol live in steep mountainous regions, and rarely venture down into areas inhabited by humans, but should an Absol be seen by humans, it is said that catastrophe is soon to follow. Absol is a dark type pokemon. This Absol is male and has the abilities Pressure, Super Luck, and Justified. This Absol is lvl. 10 and knows the moves Perish Song, Me First, Razor Wind, Scratch, Quick Attack, Pursuit, Hone Claws, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw, and Rock Smash._ "

"Shadow, get to the side so the girl can pass us. After she does, unleash two thunders behind us, but keep running."

"Sol."

They moved to the side and let the orange-haired girl pass before Shadow did as asked. They never stopped running, but the thunders hit the Spearow flock and managed to take down the majority of them. This caused the rest to stop following and help their injured friends. Ash and Shadow made it to the end of the trees before stopping to catch their breath, both having run faster and farther than they had in one go before. Ash looked at the sky once he caught his breath and noticed that it looked like it was going to rain. He turned to Shadow. "I hope that girl got out okay. Since it looks like it's going to rain, we'll make camp here and sleep in the tent after dinner of cold food. Sound like a plan?"

"Sol, Absol."

"Well, we could have warm food if you could get some rocks and fire wood while I set up the tent. By the way, I don't plan on putting you in your pokeball unless needed as you are my starter, and I also want to say that you have quite the moveset." Shadow straightened slightly with a smug like grin on his face as he went to gather wood and rocks. He returned five minutes later to find Ash had set up the tent and the orange-haired girl was back. He led a few wild pokemon into the camp, each carrying either wood or rocks. They made a rock circle and piled some of the wood inside and set the rest a little ways away so it wouldn't catch fire. "Thanks helping Shadow. You're welcome to stay for dinner if you want," Ash invited the pokemon. Most of the pokemon waved to him and left. The four that stayed were a Primeape, two Mankey, and a Poochyena. Ash adjusted the wood pile and pulled out a set of flint and steel. When the fire was going, he set up a foldable grill over it and placed two hamburger patties and two steaks on it. While that was cooking, he then pulled out five bowls and poured his mom's homemade pokechow into them, filling three and half filling the other two. He handed the full ones to the Mankey and Primape and set the other two on the ground in front of Shadow and the Poochyena. He then pulled the two steaks off and placed them in the two half full bowls as well. From there, he continued to cook the hamburgers. When they were done, he placed them on buns and handed one to the girl. She took it without a word and the ate in silence. When he finished, Ash cleaned and put the grill away. When the pokemon brought him their empty bowls, he cleaned and put them away as well. He then turned to the girl. "I only have one tent, so unless you plan on sleeping outside, you can bunk with me."

"Who are you?" was all the girl said.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Who am I? Isn't it proper to introduce yourself first? Besides, you're the one who intruded on my campsite. You're the one who criticized me earlier. You should introduce yourself first. After that, I'll think about tell you my name."

The girl's face turned red as she huffed. "Fine. My name is Misty Waterflower."

Ash nodded. "I guess you can know my name, or at least, the name I go by. I'm Ghost," he finished with a grin.

"Ghost. That's obviously not your real name."

"You never know, my parents could have had an obsession with ghosts. However, you're right, its not my real name nor did I say it was. I only said that I would give the name I go by." Ash turned and noticed that the Mankey and Primeape had left, leaving only the Poochyena. "Do you want to go back to your home or go with me?" he asked it softly.

"Yena." The Poochyena bounded towards him and tackled and licked him happily.

Ash laughed and gently pushed the bite pokemon off so he could get an empty pokeball. "You need to understand that training will be difficult at times and you will need to stay within your pokeball at least until you can protect yourself better," Ash said as he held the pokeball out for the Poochyena's inspection. With a yip, Poochyena touched its nose to the pokeball and was sucked inside. There was an instant ding, signifying an instant catch. He then let it out. "We need to give you a name. Are you male?" The Poochyena shook its head. "So you're female. What about Lady?" A head shake. "Rose?" A half shake, pause, then vigorous nods. Ash laughed, "Rose it is. You can stay out of your pokeball tonight, but I will return you tomorrow before we head out." He turned to Misty. "You can join us in the tent or you can sleep out here. Your choice." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Don't take any of my things. Good night."

Ash turned and entered the tent. Shadow and Rose followed. Several minutes later, Misty sighed and entered as well. She held in a laugh at the sight she saw. Ash, or Ghost as far as she knew, was passed out with his coat wrapped around him and his head resting on Shadow's side. Rose was curled up on his chest with a happy smile on her face. Misty laid out her sleeping bag as quietly as she could and quickly fell asleep.

 **==Time Skip==**

Ash woke to the feeling of something warm and somewhat heavy on his chest. The previous days events quickly came back to his mind and he gently transferred Rose from his chest to the tent's floor. He quietly exited the tent and noticed that the sun was just peaking over the horizon. He worked on getting the fire relit so he could make breakfast for everyone. Ten minutes later, Shadow exited the tent, followed by a still half asleep Rose. Shadow sat by the fire and watched the sunrise. Rose curled up beside Shadow and fell asleep again. Ash chuckled and started cooking.

Misty woke twenty minutes after Ash to the smell of cooking sausage. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and exited the tent. Ash glanced at her as she collapsed on a log that was conveniently placed by the fire pit. A short time after that, Ash wordlessly handed her a plate with some sausage on it while eating another.

When everyone was done eating, Ash entered the tent and came out with Misty's sleeping bag, which he draped over the same log she currently sat on. He then took all his things out of the tent and packed it up. Once his stuff was all together and packed, he doused the fire by tossing dirt on it and recalled Rose. "I will let you out later today, Rose." He then stood and placed his hat on his head and shouldered his backpack before looking at Misty. "You can stay here or come with me. I don't care. Let's go, Shadow."

As they left the campsite, they heard Misty scrambling to collect her things before she appeared beside them, wheeling her bike along. Without breaking stride, Ash reached into his pocket and pulled out a flash-drive. He inserted it into his pokedex and opened it. He quickly downloaded all the music from the flash-drive onto the pokedex, ejected and pocketed the flash-drive, and played the music through his earphone.

An hour or so later, the wind began to pick up and many flying type pokemon began to land, a clear sign of either a severe storm or high winds. Ash stopped momentarily to pull out a mask and dark sunglasses. The mask was one that covered the lower half of your face and was made of a combination of metal and plastic with an elastic like cloth completing the circle and allowing it to be worn. It had the unique design on it, depicting the lower half of a human skull proportional to the size of the head that wore the mask. He took his hat off to slide the mask on and put the sunglasses on. He then tilted his head down slightly so that his hat had less of a chance of getting blown away.

Misty was surprised when Ash pulled out a mask and sunglasses, but was even more surprised when he handed her a bandana and sunglasses as well. When she looked at him, he answered her unasked question. "Unless you want sand and dirt in your eyes and mouth or a wind-burned face, wear those." She nodded and quickly tied the bandana on and slid the glasses on as well.

They weren't a moment to soon as the wind suddenly doubled and Ash's hat decided that it wanted to fly. His hand shot up and kept it on his head as he trudged onwards. Shadow took point with his head ducked slightly to keep the dirt out of his eyes. Misty followed closely behind Ash, using him as a human wind-shield. They pressed on for another hour before the wind died down to a normal level.

Misty took off the sunglasses and bandana and handed them back to Ash. "Thank you for letting me use these.

"Keep them. I have no use for them and you may need them again. The wind in this area is quite unpredictable to all but flying types." Ash grinned. "Besides, they fit you somewhat."

"Why you..." Misty growled and trailed off to mumbling unintelligible things while slightly blushing.

Ash only chuckled and continued walking. "I don't think I'm going to take off this mask. Its quite comfortable." He slung his backpack around and dug in one of the side pockets. "I will switch these sunglasses for my Sniper's Eye." He then pulled his sunglasses off and put them in the pocket he was digging in and pulled out a single red eyepiece. He slid it on his left eye after connecting it to his pokedex via bluetooth. It slid into place with a snap, signifying that it locked in place with his mask.

"Sniper's Eye? What's that?" asked Misty.

"A Sniper's Eye is an add-on to the pokedex, and it is actually called a Tech Glass. Mine is custom-made for me, just like my earpiece. A Tech Glass has complete access to my pokedex and the internet. With the help of a small camera in the frame, a Tech glass can quickly display strengths and weaknesses of an opposing or allied pokemon. It can also identify a trainer, gym leader, or any person that works for or is registered in the pokemon league at any point. For instance, I now know that you are one of the four gym leaders for Cerulean City and are the youngest. Your older sisters are also known as the sensational sisters and you can be considered the fourth. When I decide to challenge your gym, I won't go to Cerulean if you are still traveling with me as I can challenge you then." Ash grinned. "Basically, a Tech glass can do everything a pokedex can and only the wearer can see it. However, mine was custom-made and has a few additional features. One is that it works as a telescope. Another is that it works as night vision and heat vision goggles."

Ash kept walking and Misty jogged to catch up. They topped a hill and saw a town in the valley below. "Veridian City. I need to get some more things at the store and have Nurse Joy heal my pokemon. We can hang out in the city for the rest of the day. I will be leaving at ten forty-five tomorrow morning if you still want to tag along. Be prepared to camp in a bug infested forest for a week or two if you do." They continued walking as Misty shivered at the mention of bugs.

Ten minutes later, when they entered Veridian City, they were stopped by Officer Jenny. "Hold it right there. Why is that pokemon out of its pokeball? You must be the thief." She grabbed his arm and began to pull him away.

"Actually, Officer, Shadow and I were just coming here for the day before we head out to train. Here, my pokedex should prove my identity." He pressed a few keys on his dex and spun the screen so that Jenny could see it.

"Sorry for the misunderstanding. We have a pokemon thief around here."

Ash nodded. "I'll keep an eye out. See ya later, Officer." He walked off leaving Misty to catch up while wondering what just happened. A few minutes later, they entered the pokecenter and Ash approached the nurse desk. "Nurse Joy, can you do a quick checkup on Shadow and Rose for me?"

"Of course. It is my job." Nurse joy took Rose's pokeball and led Shadow through a side door. They returned withing a minute and Nurse joy returned the Poochyena's pokeball to Ash. "They are both healthy and strong." 

"Thanks, Nurse Joy. I hope they weren't much trouble."

*BOOM*

"Koffing, use smog."

A purple gas began to fill the pokecenter and three voices were heard. "Trouble did he say?"

"Make double, we like it that way!"

"To protect the world form devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! Dats right!"

The third voice continued. "We're here for da pokemon, so give dem to us and no one gets hurt."

Nurse Joy spoke before Ash or Misty could. "There are only sick and injured pokemon here."

The female spoke next. "There is bound to be a gem in all this trash."

Ash finally lost it. "You want to take pokemon? Take this instead! Shadow, ignite the smog with a spark of thunderbolt and destroy them with a shadow ball and then use hone claws a few times in case they get close."

"Ab-SOL!" Shadow launched a small thunderbolt that blew the smog up, doing minimal damage to the center. He followed the with three shadow balls aimed at the places the voices came from before using hone claws four times. Seemingly reading Ash's mind, he continued on to charge up a pursuit.

Three screams followed the explosion with two becoming louder when after the shadow balls hit. The third voice laughed. "Ghost type moves can't hurt me; I'm a normal type."

Ash smirked. "Shadow use it and follow up with rock smash."

"Sol."

Shadow attacked and a scream was heard. When the dust settled, the three thieves were revealed to be a twenty some year old man with blue hair, a twenty some year old woman with long red hair, and a Meowth, which was fainted.

"Good job, Shadow." Ash turned to Nurse Joy. "Call Officer Jenny. I will watch these three till she gets here. After she takes them away, I will pay for the damages."

"She's already on her way and you don't have to pay for damages. You did save all the pokemon after all."

"I'm responsible for most of the damage, so I will pay part of it. If you won't take money, then teach me some about how to take care of hurt and tired pokemon with little to no equipment or supplies."

"I can do that. When were you planning on leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning around ten forty-five. That enough time for you to teach me some?"

"Yes, that works."

"I need to make a call and go buy some things. We can start after that." Nurse Joy nodded and Ash walked over to the video phones. He quickly dialed his mother's number.

"Hello, Ketchum residence."

"Mom, its Ghost."

"Ghost! Where are you?"

"Veridian City."

"You made it there fast. It took your father four days."

"I know, you told several times. Anyways, I was just calling to check in and let you know that I now have a Poochyena named Rose. She has been an angel."

"That's nice. Well, if there's nothing else, make sure to call Samuel if you haven't already. Bye."

"Bye." Ash hung up and dialed Oak's number. "Professor Oak, you there?"

"Ah, Ghost. I can hear you, but you're not showing up on the screen."

"That may be because you're facing the wrong phone." Ash chuckled as Oak whirled around and rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Yes, that would be a problem. I take it you are calling from Veridian City?" At Ash's nod he continued, "How are you and Shadow doing? Caught anymore pokemon? I have a bet with Gary, you see. He bet me $50,000 that you wouldn't catch any pokemon until after Veridian City while I said you would have caught at least one."

"Well, when he pays you, can you send me $10,000 of that? Considering I won you 50k by just catching Rose, I think that you should at least split the money with me."

"Well then, good for you. I won't send you ten thousand dollars. I will add 5k to it and send you fifth-teen. What pokemon is Rose?"

"Thanks, Professor. Rose is a female Poochyena." Ash snapped his fingers. "That reminds me, I need to scan Rose to see what moves and abilities she has."

"Ghost, all joking and betting aside, I have a serious question. Would you be averse to taking a pokemon of mine to see the world with you? Even if he doesn't want to battle?"

"He can come so long as he is a small pokemon. That way, he can ride on my bag or shoulder and be able to see the world while not getting into battles."

"That works perfectly. I will send him now. Make sure to let him out as soon as possible; he hates being in his pokeball. Be prepared for a shocking surprise." Oak disappeared for a moment before reappearing. "I sent him. He should get there soon."

A pokeball materialized on the machine next to the phone. "Got him, Professor." Ash opened the pokeball to find a Pikachu. It sparked slightly and looked at him before jumping on Ash's shoulder after he slid the pokeball into one of his coat's extra pockets. Pikachu looked at Shadow and tensed slightly, but bristled with indignation when the disaster pokemon dismissed him as non-threatening. "I won't battle with him unless he wants to battle and I need him. See ya."

"Bye."

Ash left the center and strolled through the streets looking for the store with Shadow walked calmly by his side. They would make quite a threatening picture were it not for both the Pikachu on Ash's shoulder and his peaceful walk. Twenty minutes later, they returned to the center and Ash rented a room for him, dropped his things off in that room, and joined Nurse Joy for his healing lesson. He didn't get to sleep until midnight when he collapsed into his rented bed after several hours of Nurse Joy's almost literal crash-course in multiple types of healing different types of pokemon. Ash's muscles were somewhat sore from little movement and his head felt fit to burst with all that had been shoved into it. He had a dreamless sleep while Shadow dreamt of battling proudly side-by-side with Ash.

 **==Chapter End==**

AN: I will be in the process of writing chapter 2 shortly. Ash's hat is a black version of Indiana Jones' hat and his Sniper's Eye is exactly the same as Tobio Oike's aiming device from Beyblade Metal Masters, except it has a black frame instead of grey. Thanks for reading. For those that are impatiently waiting for CH. 2 of Havoc Dragons to come out, I write both when I can and over what I currently have some interest in. I only ask that you continue waiting and/or take some lessons in patience. I don't know when I will update.


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